To Walk
by Omicron the IceQueen
Summary: Something is very different this time around, something is off, maybe even broken? Sans can't help the flutter of hope, but also... those little baby bones.
1. Discovery

Queen's notes: been playing with the idea of this AU I made, time to test it out

 **To Walk**

Discovery

The monster came up short from the relaxed wondering, his eyes widening at an impossible sight before him. What should have been impossible, what had always seemed to be impossible since he re-discovered the door in a new, metaphorical light. The sad voice on the other side of the door had, after all, vowed to never let the door to the ruins open again. And the constant wards and magical barriers only added more substance to the words he barely heard back then.

The door was open.

Not even open a little but _wide open_.

As Sans swept out his senses, he couldn't feel the knotting layers of magic that normally turned that door into something more solid then the Cavern Walls.

There was a soft glow like firelight within the space beyond the open doorway, showing a place that looked warmer then the suddenly dark day of the snow heavy forest. Half silhouetting the large monster that was sitting in the door frame with the broad back to the skeleton, half leaning on the inward swinging door, though staying just before the line of snow.

"Now, now my child," A rich female voice Sans knew all too well, and he couldn't understand. Floundering mentally as he watched the bigger monster reach out to scoop out a handful of the snow, pulling it back to her, "There's no need to wiggle about."

There was a much lighter tone that giggled out of sight.

Again Sans felt his grasp on the world go a kilter, but not _out_ of his grasp as he realized this was something _completely_ _new_. This wasn't stumbling unto the human youth staggering out of the door (crying or nub from rejection), never in his logs or vague memories did the woman emerge.

Of for that matter, it never took the door to open this long, months pasted since those first days Sans knew like his own thick radius in his arm before the human showed up. Long enough that he confused him as to why, even blinking around to make sure the human youth hadn't slipped past somehow.

"Its cold!" A young voice yelped.

The woman tilted her head, her smile audible, "Of course it is, its make of ice."

 _It's made of crystalline water, ice-particles,_ Sans thought automatically, catching himself from doing more than opening his mouth a little.

"Can we take it home momma?" The little voice that was just out of sight asked, her tone rising in hope and just a slight bit of a begging whine. Sans watched a small, oblong snow lump being tossed out into the dark, landing with an nearly soundless plop into the drifts of white.

"Maybe we can get a bowl later..." The woman sighed, a mix of worry and swelling affection, a tone that he knew well as it came out of him in regards to his brother. "Snow won't last long in the house my child...but maybe we can make a snow cone?"

The unseen child gasped, in that over dramatic way of the youth, "Really? With strawberry flavor?"

"Ah..." The female monster hesitated, looking to her left out into the snow covered ground, then back inside to the ruins. "I don't have that..."

"Oh..."

The woman sat up a little, her arms moving just out of Sans' sight as she hurriedly added. "But I do know where there is some sweet berries. I suppose I can turn that into a flavor over a snow." She paused and her rich tone softened more as her head and neck dipped for a moment, "I know we don't have much, but I shall see what we can do."

"Okay momma," The child's voice seemed like it was trying not to be upset, struggling to understand. "Can I have more?"

The woman sighed softly, "You're going to get us both soaking wet at this rate my little one." The white furred monster said as she leaned out to get another handful of the snow, offering it to the youth to the lighter sound of happy giggling.

Sans glanced around, looked across the way to the other side of the pool of light, to the pine trees there. He blinked over under the protection of the braches, trying to be as subtle as he could with his magic. Though as he turned to look back at this new angle he could see the woman lifting her head and looking around, having sensed something though unsure if it was out in the wild or an affect from unbarring the door's charms. After a few long moments of studying the dark she looked back down into her lap where a comparatively tiny form was nestled into slack of her purple robes. A picture of surprisingly simple happiness that came from just playing with the offered snow, the child having been tossing it around so it melted and clung in clumps to herself and the monster's lap she was on. Thrilled when the white furred woman huffed and protested the snow being just piled over the child as she reached out to pull it with both hands and arms from the offering hand.

"You're going to catch a cold at this rate." The woman shook her head, long ears moving almost in a secondary motion. Sans could see now that when she spoke, the woman was barely showing her killing fangs, just the tips visible. It seemed more like a unnoticed habit then an effort.

"How do you catch a cold?" The child paused, pushing her hair back to look up, puzzled at what must be a new phrase as the snow was being brushed off her by hand large enough to wrap around her, yet trusting in a way that spoke of completely trust. Having already long since found those hands were gentle and kind.

"By being wet and cold too long, and having those little defenses in you lowered." The woman said as she worried over the human child, summing up her magic to form into warm but harmless fire in her palms. She smiled as the girl giggled when the magic was smoothed over the little frame, "You need to stay warm." The expression on the furred face changed for a moment as the child was distracted by the glow of magic, swallowing hard against an old, deep rooted pain before the woman took a few deep breaths to clear herself and not to disrupt the child's mood.

The woman's head jerked up as boney knuckled rapped against the stone half in front of her. She reflexively held the human child closer despite a squeaked protest, but still child in a protective hold, looking to be as startled as she was horrified at being found before fire magic reflected in her eyes. Just as she was about to gather her magic the other monster spoke in an all too familiar voice.

"Knock-knock?" Sans said as he leaned against the stone wall, not wholly sure when or why he just blinked over. Faced with who was in front of now, who really had been on the other side of the door in this way, he knew he wasn't all that impressive. Hoodie, fur jacket, shorts and bright yellow slippers, he was looking more

"Who's there?" The little girl in the monster's lap asked after a moment of stunned quiet.

Still a bit shocked itself, the skeleton monster fumbled and said the first thing that came to his mind. "Opportunity."

"Oppe…r..what's that momma?"

"Don't be silly," the white furred monster said, her tone going back to something warm as she stared at the shorter monster, taking in not only the appearance but the feel of the other monster's magic. Confirming it was who she thought it was. "Opportunity doesn't knock twice." 

"It doesn't?" the girl puzzled, looking up as to her this strange new person shrugged and slid down the wall to plop down on the snow. "Is that his name momma? I can't say it."

"Nah kiddo," Sans turned his attending to the little human, smiling wide, "My name's Sans." He pulled one of his gloved hands out of his pocket and held it out as he focused on the child, "Sans the skeleton." He said, using his Sight and paused as he saw the reasons the delay in the time line, seeing the condition of those fragile little baby bones hidden inside the human. At the same time as he realized why the child hadn't moved out of the woman's lap, the white monster leaned over to take his hand.

 _Plllfffffffurrupt._

The long drawn out sound of fart noise almost seemed to echo in the sudden silence, seeming as if it could make it all the way to Snowdin Village. Red-amber eyes of the taller monster and brown of the human child both stared at Sans, and almost gaped as the whoopie cushion wheezed another absorbed sound inflating back to normal.

This was probably the most uncouth thing that the goat woman was ever subjected to by her look, signaling to her at least it might be the marker of how drastically her life had changed in the ages.

She loved it.

Toriel couldn't help tipping her head back and _laughing_ at the absurdity and simplicity of the prank. Laughing in relief that Sans, at least for now didn't seem like he wanted to be a threat to her helpless little charge.

The child was giggling now, responding to Toriel and looking at the skeleton as she spoke, "Momma! _Momma!_ " her tone was as close to being scandalized as a child could be, "You're _supposed_ to say ' _excuse me_ ' mamma!" She looked up and around as the monster she was sitting on only laughed harder and this new comer choked and laughed as well, smiling though not fully sure what tension happened just before.

Everyone was laughing now, it had to be alright.

Toriel gasped slightly, lifting a hand to her chest, "Yes… oh my, yes you're right child." She struggled not to grin to wide herself, "yes! 'Excuse me,' parden me, I'm so very sorry for farting."

"That's okay momma," The little girl patted the large white hand beside her, getting a serious expression and tone without realizing it, and added with the blunt honestly of a child. "It didn't stink this time. So it's okay."

Sans fell over, dissolving into laughter as his hands spazzemed to make little farting sounds of, ' _plffut, plffut_ ' as the goat monster lifted her hand to her face in mortification.


	2. Snow

Queen's notes: Feeels... be warned

 **To Walk**

Snow

The Monster shifted with the young human girl in his lap, reaching up to ruffle her hair with boney fingers and getting a tired giggle. "Aren't you tired yet?" Sans asked his current lap occupant.

"No!" the girl shook her head, ignoring the fact she had been yawning not a few minutes before. "Can I have another snow ball Sans?"

The skeleton sighed deeply, looking up, "Another one? You just throw them kiddo!"

"You told me to." The girl protested, twisting to looking at the white face, her eyes widening before Sans tilted his head and winked at her. She brightened up as he reached back and patted the snow over his lap, offering it to her, "Snow ball!"

"Well, more like a snow-decahedron." Sans corrected as the girl noticed the odd shape.

"A...what?" the human blinked and turned the show around to look at it.

"We need to work on your shape kiddo." Sans huffed, making a note of that as he adjusted his fur coat around the child, then he pointed down the cliff, "Ooh, there's my brother, think you can get him?"

The child peered down, and then back up, "Is that okay?" she worried, look from the semi distant figure, "I only been throwing at trees."

Sans leaned over the human, eyeing his brother and grinned wider, "Just this once, I throw snow-decahedrons at him too."

"Are you sure Sans?"

The monster turned to get another bundle of snow with a wide grin, "Yeah." He took aim and the snow-decahedron sailed through the air until it smacked into the semi distant skeleton. Sans gave a dry, almost purring like sound that vibrated through his rib cage, in pride at the fallowing yell, "Go for it kiddo." Sans opened his jacket and watched the human shift in his lap before throwing their now snowball out… and drop a good ten feet away and down.

Sans paused as he and the child leaned forward to see if it was close. After a few seconds Sans' eyes flickered blue over the girl's head and there was another yell of outrage as the snow clinging to the tree branches above Papyrus were shivered with a poke of magic before dropping the snow load.

"Niiiiice one kiddo," the monster wrapped the human back up in his jacket, half closing his eyes and smirking at the innocent chance to mess with his brother. Yet when Papyrus also noticed Sans and started to distantly yell at him, the human was safely hidden from sight at that distance, as well as being kept warm between being under the fur and the heat from Sans' bones.

The girl giggled, grasping the edges the Monster folded over her, leaning back on the pillow he carried as well as the filling out magical field of Sans that gave the illusion of fluffy weight. "He can yell really loud."

"Oh yeah, more I start texting him puns out here in the woods," Sans sighed and shook his head, "My brother just doesn't have the stomach for them." He glanced down at hearing another giggle after a moment when the girl got it, Sans wrapped his arms more around the little warm, living lump before blinking and teleporting away, where his brother wouldn't find them. There was a moment of half scramble to keep the human up, shifting his hold now that he was standing, and feeling small hands grip at his collar bone area through the shirt as he turned her around partly. Sans reached down with his free hand to grasp the girl's legs and then tucked her into his Jacket more, braced on his left arm, her.

"Where are we going now?" The girl asked excitedly, once realizing Sans wasn't taking her home, snuggling into the fur jacket and leaning on the hard bones of the skeleton.

"Hmm… thinking about the ice fall," Sans said, making sure he wouldn't drop the child. "What do you think Frisk?"

"Is it pretty?" the girl, Frisk asked looking up at the skeleton's face before looking at where he was walking, though now and again as she blinked or ducked her head was that gut twisting feeling of Sans 'Blinking' ahead instead of just walking. Every time she felt a bit sick, but with not much in her stomach it wasn't so bad.

Blinking herself, Frisk looked up again, tugging on the sweeter the monster had on.

"Hmm?" Sans tilted his head down, but before he could ask, the monster got the answer as the human's stomach protested the lack of food. Sans chuckled, "Don't worry, I used to run a hotdog place there. There should still be some stuff frozen that's good."

The girl flushed but pulled on the fur jacket to get it closer and block out the chill some more. Frisk rested her head against the hard bones her body starting to relax as she was tired. Remembering what Torriel had said about small human bodies, Sans zipped his jacket up all the way, keeping Frisk hidden inside as he walked to the almost forgotten buildings, and to one the furthest along almost at the cliff and the Cavern Wall. He slipped inside, still bracing and holding the child against him as the monster turned on the heat with a spark of magic. After a while he started the food to thawing as well but kept the building closed to heat up.

Sans sat back down in the old bed that had been hidden in this place, feeling it shifted but hold firm. It was already warm from one of the heaters under the bed, and as the air warmed up as well, Sans unzipped his jacket to look down at his passenger. Between the long day and excitement of playing outside, even within the skeleton's hold the whole time, Frisk had dropped into a nap on the way over. She was placed onto the bed carefull so not to jar the girl awake again until the food was ready- and Sans knew he was going soft.

But those little baby bones.

Sans hesitated from drawing back his hands, the exposed fingers trailing over and above the girl's legs, twitching at every knot of badly remolded bone. Broken and forced healed _wrong_ by magic.

Not that Sans could find it in himself to blame Torriel, the woman had _tried_. The reclused Boss Monster had explained what happened, coming across the crying, dirty, hurt child and had just reacted, wanting to stop the pain. Stop the hurt. Torriel knew how to heal but not really heal humans, didn't know how to set and knit the bones first, not how skeleton monsters knew.

So those delicate little baby bones were now healed at bad angles, maybe a bit raw here and there, but they couldn't fix it without re-breaking the bones. Even Sans couldn't do it, not after seeing the real innocents in the human child. So Frisk was stuck unable to support herself walking again.

Sans sighed, getting up but was stopped as a small hand caught his, pulling the boney hand up to sleepily nuzzle against it.

Sans felt like his rib cage was melting, hating and loving it.


End file.
